Camber Kits hurt my head...

[pauls81sc]

Alright, here's the deal. My car has been dropped about 2" and I'm wearing out front tires like there is no tomorrow. (See my gallery for a picture)

I've searched the old threads for camber kits, but I'm having trouble sorting out the OPINIONS from the FACTS. I think I've seen every camber kit available (Ingalls, Progress Tech, Skunk, OBX, Vision.....) and every style too (Offset balljoint, adjustable control arms, bolts and washers...) I've got so much info that my head is starting to hurt.

I really need to hear from people with about the same amount of drop that have PERSONAL EXPERIENCE installing one of these kits. One of my biggest concerns is the clearance problems I hear about. Some people hear strange noises going over bumps, some bent their control arms, some pounded their fenders to make clearance for the parts.

Any testimonials out there that go something like: "Bolted the damned thing in, had the alignment checked, and drove off happily ever after"
(and which kit that was)

I love this forum and appreciate everyone's opinions, but what I really need right now are facts so I can fix this problem ASAP.

[slo89]

i had a camber kit in my 4dr, cheap one off ebay it just replaces the upper control arm mounts to offset them out more, worked fine with no problems. didnt get all the camber out but i was lower than 2". on the rear just put some washers behind the upper control arm bolts, works fine.

[T-Mo]

I have a 2" drop and ppl were telling me to get the camber kit, but I took it to get an alignment and the adjusted the toe. You don't always need a camber kit if your tires are wearing like that.

[pauls81sc]

slo89, thanks for the info. Do you remember who the manufacturer was?

T-Mo, thanks....but alignment check showed too much negative camber. Toe was good.

[Cjz89civic]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33581

This is the kit I used from this guy I used the first setting which is 1.5* deg offset I have a pretty low car and my tires have about 7,000 miles on them and not much wear. This kit gives you front and rear camber adjustments. They are really easy to do if you need help I can PM you my # to help over the phone. Took me 1/2 hour to do it both front another 20 mins to do the rear cause I had to change the spacing two times to get it right.

Oh ya no pounding the fender well or anything with this kit. I have no nosies coming from the front either. Worked really well.

[pauls81sc]

thanks, cjz....that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

It's starting to sound like the kits that replace the upper control arm mounts are the way to go. My only complication is that I think my upper ball joints are shot. According to the manuals I've found, replacing them either requires special tools or should be done by a service center (probably because it requires special tools). Might be able to find a decent salvage set, guess I'll have to do some more research. Maybe while I've got the control arms out to put in the camber kit I can get the ball joints done.

Anyway, anbody else out there want to share their experience? Nobody used Progress or the others? What about the offset balljoint type?

[Fewman]

I got Ingalls, had some problem with pounding too hard and bending upper control arm, but pounded it back and it's been perfect since (almost 1 year now). It barely even needed to be aligned when I brought it to the shop after putting the kits in.

[GTA]

i have a set of SPC balljoint camber kit replacements.

http://www.spcperformance.com/PerfPa...67320_360.html

i've been thinking about selling them cause i dont time to put them in and my tires really arent wearing out that bad.

[pauls81sc]

Hey Fewman, that must've been the offset balljoint type, right? Ingalls makes both type: offset balljoint & adjustable control arm mounts. So I'm assuming you bent your control arms tyring to remove or reinstall the balljoints.

GTA, I was on the phone with SPC earlier. They did warn me that some of the Hondas had the upper ball joint WELDED in place. In which case the entire upper control arm assembly had to be replaced.

I found these on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33580
It says 88-91 Civicx, but should fit a CRX too, right?

Along with these from eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WD3V
I get alignment corrected and new upper balljoints for like $150 total

[Fewman]

Mine were welded. I hit long and hard with a hammer + heated with torch. Took about 1 hour, but I wasn't in the mood to pay for a new control arm. Front and back are Ingalls.

[BullShifter]

That is correct, the upper ball joint is part of the upper control arm. The noises people usually here is from loose bolts on shitty parts. Spend the money now for the good stuff or spend twice as much when you do it right. Ingalls

You can make your own for the rear. Just make sure to use high strength both(grade8 or better) not like shown on the site - http://home.earthlink.net/~civicex95/rearcamber.html

[Beater88]

I have been looking a kits and if you are looking for cheap, I would recomend this one from ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...908939098&rd=1

They look just like the Ingalls (I have one side from a parts trade) and have a decent looking bushing insted of the set posted by pauls81sc from ebay above, if you look there is almost no bushing. And much better then the shim type that Cjz89civic recomended as that throws the upper control arm into a strange angle and may cause the issues of bending the arms.

I am trying to win one set of ingalls to make a set lucky me that there happens to be one posted. I would have to say that since Ingalls is one of the originators of the parts I would trust them over anything else.

Later!!!